Keeping memories

Keeping someone's memory after they die is more active than people expect, and there is no single right way to do it. This is a growing collection of plain, practical guides on gathering, holding on to and passing on the things that made a person who they were. Start wherever is useful. If the person was on Facebook, what to do with their account is worth reading early, because access to their photos and posts can be lost for good once Facebook is told of the death.

How to write a tribute or a letter to someone who has died

How to get past the blank page, why one specific true thing beats any grand summary, the difference between a tribute and a private letter, and where the words can live afterwards.

Published

How to keep someone's memory alive after they die

What keeping a memory actually means, why it matters, and the different forms it can take. A good place to start.

Published

How to gather memories from family and friends

How to ask the people who knew them for their stories, in a way that gets real answers, before those stories fade.

Published

How to create an online memory box

What to put in a digital memory box, how to gather more from the people who knew them, and where to keep it so it lasts.

Published

What to do with someone's photos and videos after they die

How to rescue their photos and videos from phones, cloud accounts and old tapes before access is lost, what not to delete in the early weeks, and where to keep it all so it lasts.

Published

What to do with someone's Facebook account when they die

Their account keeps running after they die, and once Facebook is told, it can lock you out for good. How to save the photos and posts first, then decide whether to memorialise or delete.

Published